I was 12 years old when this story begins. I remember the day clearly...

It was during the summer right after gymnastics practice. I had what the teachers called natural balance. I was an all star, the best in my league. It was a hot sunny day when my dark red hair started to lighten up. My dad was off on a work trip and I was out in the backyard playing with my dog Bad Luck.

I named him 'Bad Luck' because he always caused bad things wherever he went. I remember one time when he was a pup my mom let him out into the back yard and he got loose. He sped off and began digging in the old neighbor lady's trash, throwing it everywhere. When she heard the commotion she came outside, only to see her plants dug up and trash thrown all across her lawn. I laughed when I saw it but the old lady blamed it on me. My mom apologized and 'punished me' for not watching him. Truth be told, her punishment wasn't much, she just made me watch the dog for a week, I pretended to be really upset and contrite whenever the lady saw me, but really who can control a puppy?

Anyway, it was a midsummer day when I was laid out in the sun getting a tan. I wasn't much one for school and being cooped up all the time, so during the summer I was always outside, either climbing trees, racing on the track, playing at the beach, or sunbathing. Eventually I fell asleep.

When I woke up it was dark so I rushed inside to get ready for dinner. That's when I saw my hair in the mirror. I gasped in shock because it was way lighter then it had been. I finally got used to it and after a few days I found out the more I was out in the sun the lighter it became. It didn't bother me any, and mom never said anything so I just continued to play and enjoy the outdoors as much as possible. After a month my dad came home from work.

I greeted him as normal, but once he saw my hair he flipped out. He told me to meet him in his room after dinner. Being the good little boy I was I did as I was told...

"Son what on this earth did you do to your hair?" He asked me appalled.

"Nothing father. I was just outside in the sun and-"

"Let me guess it just turned PINK!"

"Well, yes father."

"Liar! Why are you lying to me? I keep you under this roof and feed you and clothe you and you go out and dye your hair PINK?"

"F-father, please that's not what happened! I just fell asleep outside and it-"

"SHUT UP!" He roared as he hit me. "You insolent brat! I leave you for a month and you go and turn into some satanic, disobedient, brat who dyes his hair pink!" My father actually hit me.

"F-father!" I whisper in shock.

"Now you fight against me! All I ask for is for you to be a good boy and be a BOY but here you go dying your hair pink and lying to me! Is it too much to ask for a good son?"

"That's not true!"

"Honor thy mother and father, son! Are you accusing me of lying?"

"N-no but father!"

"Why are you back talking me?" He yells hitting me. I just laid there too shocked to try and fight him off. Looking back, I can say this is definitely the point at which I became depressed. As a punishment, for dying my hair and 'continuing to dye it', I was forbidden from going outside for two years except to get to and from school...

About a year later when I turned 13, I finally realized he wasn't going to stop. Ten months later I fell during P.E…. I just sat there watching the blood pour out of my cuts, surprised to find myself enjoying the feeling of the cool blood rolling over my boiling hot skin. Someone suggested that I go to the nurse, and this was the beginning of my clumsy act...

Two months later I was a regular at the nurse's office. Every day, at least once a day, I would fall and scrape my knee, stub my toe, or jam my finger in the door. Doing anything possible to hurt myself more then he hurt me. I soon found that I could use my clumsiness to cover up anything he did…

Then one day in P.E. for the first time in months, I fell not on my own accord. This redheaded boy accidentally knocked into me and I fell and scraped my hands and knees. The gym teacher saw and told the boy, Hiroshi, to help me to the nurse.

"I'm sorry Shuichi-san, I didn't mean to-"

"Yeah, I know it was an accident."

"No hard feelings right?" He asks, honestly worried.

"Sure."

"Do you want me to carry you? It might sting to walk…"

"That's okay, I've walked it plenty of times."

"You sure? Those scrapes look kinda bad..."

"It will be fine. I can walk it on my own if you wanna go do something else."

"No, at least let me walk with you, to show that I am truly sorry..."

"It's fine really…but if you really want to..." I thought he was such a weirdo at the time; most people booked it as soon as I said I could do it on my own.

"Thank you, Shuichi-san!"

"No problem, I guess, Hiroshi-san"

Hiroshi just smiled an apologetic smile and I just grinned and bared it. As I stepped into the nurse's office I expected Hiroshi to go back to Gym but I suppose he wanted out of it as much as I did.

"Ah, Shuu-kun, Didn't I just see you last class period?" Somehow I think the nurse knew my clumsiness was an act. She never pressed me about it though.

"Sorry Yamisa-sensei. I accidentally pushed him."

"Wow, now that's a shocker. Thank you Hiroshi-kun, but I think Shuu-kun can do enough damage to himself. I don't think he needs your help in that department."

"What do you mean?"

"Oi! IM RIGHT HERE YA KNOW!"

"Oh! Sorry Shuichi-san" Hiroshi apologized, but I was just glad that the topic switched to me actually getting fixed up.

"All done! Now lets see those hands…" I hold out my hands to let her bandage them up. When she finished I went back to gym with Hiroshi.

"Hey, Hiroshi-san..."

"Yes Shuichi-san?"

"Why are you being so nice to me...?" I asked, shyly. Most of the kids in the school either didn't know I existed, or thought I was an easy target for bullying.

"What do you mean Shuichi-san?"

"I mean you stayed with me even when I told you could go, and you waited for me instead of going back to class..."

"Well it is two things really, first off I hate gym class and second it was my fault you fell and I would feel really bad about letting you go alone. I mean what if you had fallen again and gotten hurt more? I would be mad at myself if I-" I almost tripped but he caught me "If I didn't catch you..." I looked up into his eyes and could see the truthfulness. I suddenly blushed noticing how little space there was between us. I regained my balance muttering my thanks to him while hiding my face behind my bangs.

"Ano... Shuichi-san?"

"Yes Hiroshi-san?"

"Do you uh... wanna be my friend?"

"Uhhhh...sure Hiroshi-s…kun"

"Thank you Shuichi-sa…kun." He said and we both started giggling at our foolishness, at least that's what I was laughing at. My first real friend…

A year later, three years after it all began I decided I was going to tell Hiro, as I now called him, the truth. Since we were both 16 and we'd been friends for a year, I decided I could trust him enough with my secret. This was decided, of course, after my daily beat down and dinner.

"H-hey, Hiro? You there?"

"Yeah, What's wrong, Shuichi? You don't sound very good…"

"I need to tell you something..."

"Well...go ahead..."

"Not here, not on the phone, in person…

"The park?"

"In three." I said before clicking the phone off. Quietly I fixed up the bruises and cuts and got dressed. I headed down the stairs and got the door open, only to be stopped by my dad.

"What do you think you are doing?"

"I-I was going out for a walk..."

"Liar. What have I told you about lying?"

"But I'm not lying, father. I just wanted to go for a walk, maybe to the park and back."

"Liar." He said before he began beating me up for the second time that day. "Go to your room."

"Yes father," I said as I climbed up the stairs to my room. Quickly I fixed up my cuts and bruises for the second time and I grabbed my hidden rope ladder. I made slow work climbing out of the window and when I got to the park I saw Hiro pacing back and forth.

"You said three minuets! It's been 13!" He said when he saw me.

"Sorry something came up...that I need to tell you about..." I said suddenly not sure about my decision…but I had made up my mind, there was no way I was backing out of it.

"Well, go on..."

"You trust me right?"

"Of course."

"You know I trust you right?"

"Yessss..."

I sighed before I took a deep breath. "Well, at first I didn't want to tell you 'cause I wasn't sure how you would react... Then knowing how you would react I was worried you would make it worse..."

"What are you-?"

"My dad beats me." I said feeling ashamed as I adverted my eyes. In his shocked silence I focused on the sleeve of my shirt, there was a thin thread coming loose and I picked at it as I waited for him to respond.

"W-what!"

"He does. That's why I'm so 'clumsy' to help cover it up."

"W-what? B-but why?"

"Because I'm not the perfect little son he thought I would be. My hair turned Pink and he's been beating me ever since..."

"Oh, Shuichi! But that's been since before-!" I decided as my only friend that he deserved the whole truth.

"That's not all, you know at school, When I fall...Its all on purpose."

"What?"

"It is."

"But why? Why would you do something like that to yourself?"

"To lessen the pain of what he does to me."

"B-but oh, SHUICHI!" He said looking at me like I had two heads. I don't know... maybe I did... maybe I grew two heads especially at that moment, for that purpose…so he could look at me because I had two heads and not because I hurt myself on purpose...

"I understand if you can't accept me because of this and I understand if you don't want to be my friend anymore-" My sentence was cut off when he started to cry...wait cry, like tears and snot? "Why? ...why are you crying?"

"Oh, Shuichi! I'm crying because you wont! You should be happy and not sad...Not like this-"

"Damn it Hiro! Don't turn into one of them! Don't tell me what I can or can't do!" I said irrationally angry in my fear of his reaction.

"Sorry Shiuchi! I just want you to be happy!" He said pulling me into a hug. I sat there letting him cry on my shoulder and soon I realized that I was crying too! I pulled him closer and hugged him like there was no tomorrow. My pain, both emotional and physical, was momentarily forgotten as I sat there and cried into my best friends shoulder.

Then I told him I had to go or else I could in trouble. I saw the anger flare up in his eyes and I know mine held a moment of distrust and regret, until he turned away and said that he would see me tomorrow…

I slowly trudged home hoping that I could trust Hiro and that my dad hadn't come to check on me. Hell, who was I kidding, my dad wouldn't have bothered even if he hadn't been drunk off his ass…I climbed up to my window noticing that the light was on... wait, I didn't remember leaving the light on! I quickly finished my climb to see a silhouette of a lady...

Okay...so it's just my mom...Wait! Shit! What was wrong with me 'just my mom?' What am I an idiot? I quietly climbed into the window to see her staring in shock at the bloody bandages I left on the floor in my rush to get to Hiro.

"Shit" I whispered and my mom unsteadily turned around...we held a moment of silence.

"Shuichi. You can't tell me all this blood is from you being clumsy…"

"Mom don't worry about it, it will be ok, nothing's wrong, why don't you go back to bed..." I suggested knowing shock could play in my favor.

"No! My precious Shuichi is being bullied and I want to know who is doing this."

"Mom, really, even if I told you, you wouldn't believe me. This is some crazy dream, nightmare that your subconscious whipped up. Why don't you just go to bed and get away before this gets any worse." Why the hell was I so calm? No scratch that HOW the hell was I so calm? Did anything I said even make any sense?

"Really? Shuichi I thought you were dead! All of this blood-it's not natural-" And she left an opening…

"That's how you can tell it's a dream, mom. Really now, if you go into your bed you will wake up and fall back asleep into a better dream and that's what you want. Right you want to leave this nightmare behind and you want to dream about going to a cook off and winning us a new refrigerator."

"Your right...goodnight Shuichi..." She said going into her room and falling asleep. Finally luck played in my favor! I sighed and quickly cleaned up the mess and turned out the lights…sleep was a long time coming that night.

AN:/ 8/23/11 So I was reading through this and I couldn't even finish the second chapter before I wanted to cry and/or barf at the terrible writing. I can't promise that it will continue, espcially since I haven't seen Gravitation since before I originally posted this story, but at the least, it will be posted with a better quality of writing...